Venezuela charges officers gave secrets to Pentagon

Venezuela charges officers gave secrets to Pentagon

Venezuela charges officers gave secrets to Pentagon
Wed Jan 25, 2006 9:49 PM ET

By Patrick Markey

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) - Venezuela said on Wednesday several military officers had been caught passing state secrets to the U.S. government in a charge that could further strain ties between the two countries.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a socialist ally of Cuba sharply at odds with Washington, has often accused U.S. officials of backing attempts to overthrow him since he survived a 2002 coup in the world's No. 5 oil exporter.

"Some low-ranking officers were passing information to the Pentagon ... handing over secrets of the state," Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel said when asked about local reports that some naval officers were under investigation for spying.

"It seems that some of them have left the country," he said without giving any further details.

A spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Caracas said, "We have received no communication from the Venezuelan government on this issue."

Washington has repeatedly dismissed Chavez's U.S. plot charges as nationalist saber-rattling. But the U.S. government has branded the former army officer as a growing threat to Venezuela's democracy and to regional stability.

Local newspapers reported that authorities had ordered some naval officers arrested after they were suspected of spying and handing information to U.S. officials.

Calls to the military prosecutor's office were not answered and a Navy spokeswoman said she had no details on the case.

Alonso Medina, an attorney for one man held in the probe, said his client was a civilian who had been detained on charges of espionage and threatening the security of the armed forces. The lawyer dismissed the charges.

"They accuse him of having relations with the U.S. Embassy," Medina told Reuters by telephone.

Relations between Venezuela and its chief oil client, the United States, have steadily deteriorated since Chavez came to office. He has moved to reduce his country's traditional cooperation and alliance with the U.S. military.

After he survived the April 2002 coup and loyal troops returned him to government, Chavez quickly purged the armed forces of suspected dissidents.

Months later, scores of dissident military officers occupied a Caracas plaza to call for their fellow soldiers to join them in a civil rebellion against Chavez. The protest eventually fizzled out and many of the officers fled the country.

A retired army paratrooper, Chavez led a failed military rebellion in 1992 and spent two years in prison before he won a sweeping election victory and promised to reverse years of neglect of the poor majority by previous governments.

(Additional reporting by Tomas Sarmiento)